Posted on 10/06/2015 5:51:58 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Sen. Ted Cruz is cozying up to Republican frontrunner Donald Trump in a cynical ploy to court the billionaire's supporters should Trump drop out of the race for the White House, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal charged Tuesday.
In an interview with the Tribune, Jindal said Cruz has "enabled" Trump, who has a history of liberal stands, by refusing to criticize him, instead cultivating a chummy relationship with the New York developer. The Texas GOP senator has praised Trump for drawing attention to illegal immigration, headlined a rally with him against President Barack Obama's nuclear deal with Iran and repeatedly passed on opportunities to attack him.
"Other candidates have been more bold and more explicit in calling out Donald Trump," Jindal said. "He's not a conservative. Donald Trump's for higher taxes. He's for socialized medicine.
"Other candidates have been more than willing to make that case, and I think Ted has been much more silent. And I think the reason's pretty transparent. I think he's hopeful that those anti-establishment votes will go from Donald Trump to him, but there's a point at which you've got to put principle above political expedience, and I think this is one of those cases."
Jindal traced the tipping point to comments Trump made on "60 Minutes" last month when asked how he would fix the U.S. health care system as president. In his response, Trump said he would "take care of everybody" and the "government's gonna pay for it," raising the prospect of the kind of arrangement that is anathema to the GOP base.
"If President Obama said this, we'd be all over criticizing this," Jindal said. "It shouldn't be any different simply because it's Donald Trump and simply because Ted Cruz hopes to get his voters."
While several GOP candidates have sharply questioned Trump's conservative credentials, Jindal has been the only one to incorporate Cruz in his criticism of the months-long frontrunner. In a CNN op-ed last month, Jindal wrote that Cruz is "clinging to Trump like a limpet to an oil tanker, hoping to suck up his votes when Trump eventually sinks." The Louisiana governor revived the attack in another op-ed Thursday, writing for Fox News that Cruz has been "complicit" in Trump's inconsistencies.
Cruz's campaign declined to comment on Jindal's remarks, but the senator has emphatically justified his refusal to criticize Trump and other rivals as an effort to avoid "Republican-on-Republican violence." That explanation did not fly Tuesday with Jindal, who pointed to Cruz's decision in July to call Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell a liar. "He's not been shy about going after other Republicans," Jindal said of Cruz.
Cruz and his aides have made no bones about looking to lure Trump backers, maintaining they are working for the support of every voter, even those already aligned with other candidates.
Jindal has been polling near the bottom of national surveys, and his full-throated attacks on Trump have been viewed as an attempt to breathe new life into his campaign. He's received a somewhat fresh round of attention since a recent poll showed him pulling even with Cruz in Iowa, a state both candidates are taking seriously and where Trump continues to top the GOP field in most surveys.
Ronald Reagan was never a liberal.
Did any of Trump's past liberal stances become law? Did Trump vote for cloture on Obamacare that allowed it to come to the floor like Olympia Snowe did?
Jindal is a fricking idiot.
Maybe not, but he was a full fledged democrat. He saw the light and I believe Trump has too. People don’t really switch from conservative to liberal much it’s almost always the other way around.
Yup.....
I think it’s very possible that another Edwards might get elected..
Bobby, your belt is slipping.
He might. Or he might ignore the schoolyard taunt.
(BTW, I'm pulling for Ted.)
He was never a lib.
Trump sure hadn’t seen the conservative light on eminent domain as of today. He loves the idea of confiscation of private property.
Never been a trump fan but this one will cost him some #in the polls
if Jindal had any supporters, Cruz would be looking to win them over also....this is what big boy campaigns do.
Stop whining, Governor. Has Cruz said anything negative about you? NO, not that I have heard. He has welcomed everyone into the race. He is following Reagan’s Eleventh Commandment.
Jindal is just upset because Cruz thought of it first.
Says Piyush just before dropping out.
Jindal still spitting into the wind.
His clear statements are not supportive of the policy stones Bobby keeps trying to hang on his neck.
My question is, who’s paying him to stick around and scream this junk to anyone who will listen?
I thought Booby dropped out in disgrace.
Cruz is my candidate of choice. However; when Jindal and others attack Trump (or his supporters), they show that they can only make themselves relevant by attacking another candidate - not by making a positive case for why they themselves should be president.
Why? Eminent domain is in the Constitution and Kelo is settled. He has no power to change it one way or the other.
You must’ve been looking into your crystal ball.
Cruz is a smarter man than Jindal—he knows what he’s doing. In the end Ted’s plan will work while Jindal drops out.
Cruz knows Trump is not the enemy. Why attack him when you can help him develop Conservative foundations...
I see somethin’ verrrrrrrrrrrry soon. Booby is finished.
Mizz Cleo told me that.
$9.99 a minute.
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